Have you seen it?
The one with the guy who brought home a Star Wars toy to his son back in ’83?
Then he and his son did the Ewok dance?
Then they flashed forward to today and…
Oh fiddlesticks. I’m doing a horrible job of describing it.
Just go and check it out here:
https://youtu.be/0D7beGKwEDE
WHY it made me cry is irrelevant.
You see, Walmart obviously understands that human beings are moved to act by EMOTION.
So kudos to the agency and/or copywriter who scripted this. (I’m sure they extracted MILLIONS from Walmart for this gig.)
Even though it doesn’t sound politically correct, manipulating emotions is what successful marketers do.
You can type your little fingers to the bone trying to make your case with logic, case studies, proof elements, etc.
You can spend days, weeks or months crafting clever prose, thinking you can “wordsmith” your way to success.
You can try to persuade you prospect with logic…
And maybe… just MAYBE you’ll get lucky with that approach and get a “base hit.”
But if you want to swing for the fences and get the big home runs, you gotta figure out how to hit on the core emotions of your prospects.
And from where I’m sitting (‘cuz I’m the demographic they’re targeting) this Walmart spot knocked it outta the park.
The lesson?
Don’t try to be clever and weave a wonderful tale as a wordsmith.
Write for clarity, yes. But most importantly, focus on injecting as much emotion into your copy as you can possibly muster.
If you can’t evoke the reaction with your copy like I had from this Walmart commercial, you’ve still got a lot of work to do.
I never promised this stuff would be easy, did I?
All the best,
Doberman Dan
All the best,
Doberman Dan
P.S. If you care to know, here’s the reason that commercial made me cry:
I’ll never be able to enjoy a moment like that.
Neither as the dad, nor the grandpa.
It didn’t seem like a big deal in years past. I didn’t want kids.
Or so I thought.
But that ship sailed a long time ago.
And nowadays it breaks my heart.
That’s why I’m adopting YOU. (Via these emails.)
I want to give YOU all the fatherly advice, empathy and support I have in my heart… but never had the opportunity to share with my own children.
Geez, that sounds corny as hell as I write this.
But I swear to you… it’s true.
Who knows. Maybe one day we can do the Ewok dance together.
Pax vobiscum.
